I believe that each student brings his or her own life experiences and prior knowledge to the classroom and, as a teacher, my job is to provide opportunities for students to explore new areas of study and deepen areas of prior knowledge. The constructivist idea that understanding is both individual and societally shaped plays a strong role in my philosophy. Students come in with their own understanding of their prior knowledge on a topic and part of my job as a facilitator of learning is to present students with view points different from a student’s individual understanding as well as our society’s understanding of a topic. I also believe that individual students can recognize their own strengths and preferred modes of learning. By knowing this, students can use their strengths to enhance group learning, work to expand their skills in new areas, and gain confidence with all of their social skills.
By creating a collaborative learning environment that values the input and prior knowledge of the students, the class as a whole will dig deeper into inquiry and critical analysis of new knowledge. Deeper inquiry can be facilitated by offering a variety of learning experiences throughout the year including experiential learning through research, examining both primary and secondary sources, and incorporating place-based learning where appropriate. By focusing on student learning at the center of my lesson planning and using various teaching strategies like 5E lesson plans, CHAIN method of evaluating learning activities, and the flipped classroom model I will create a highly effective classroom.
By creating a collaborative learning environment that values the input and prior knowledge of the students, the class as a whole will dig deeper into inquiry and critical analysis of new knowledge. Deeper inquiry can be facilitated by offering a variety of learning experiences throughout the year including experiential learning through research, examining both primary and secondary sources, and incorporating place-based learning where appropriate. By focusing on student learning at the center of my lesson planning and using various teaching strategies like 5E lesson plans, CHAIN method of evaluating learning activities, and the flipped classroom model I will create a highly effective classroom.